garlicky kale with fire-roasted tomatoes + cheesy brown rice farina “grits”

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Oof, that title is a mouthful.

And the recipe is, too. A delicious, delicious mouthful.

First things first: Have you ever tried farina? I grew up with the wheat cereal version from the blue and white box with the boy on the front who’s SUPER happy to be eating a bowl of it — which I assume can only be true if he added about a half-cup of sugar and a few dashes of cinnamon on top, as I did. It was the only way that stuff would taste good and not anything remotely like slop.

Maybe it’s because I wasn’t quite aware of its versatility as a youth or I got really, really overloaded on all the sugar (nahhhh, that can’t be it), but I haven’t had a bowl of farina in many moons. That is, until I was introduced to brown rice farina. And everything changed.

You see, Bob’s Red Mill makes this creamy brown rice farina that is not only gluten free and good for you, but also SCRUMPTIOUS. And totally inspiring, which is why I came up with the aforementioned recipe with a mega-title. If only I’d known about this stuff years ago, I could have saved myself from a lot of a crappy breakfasts and perhaps a few pounds of sugar from my diet. Ah, well. At least I’m enlightened to it now.

The fantastic thing about farina is that it is incredibly filling. I love this because I need to feel like I actually ate something for breakfast in order to jump-start my day, you know? But I don’t think eating a four-egg omelet with bacon and toast every morning is going to be the most wholesome or economical route. This recipe incorporates some melty cheese and butter into the farina (YES), and then it’s all topped with a flavorful medley of sauteed kale, fire-roasted tomatoes and garlic. Savory, satisfying, nutritious breakfast FTW.

Head over to the Bob’s Red Mill blog for the recipe! And happy breakfasting.

Disclosure: I am an ambassador for Bob’s Red Mill and received compensation for recipe development purposes. All opinions are my own.